How many of you have heard about this challenge? It's an offer made by the James Randi Educational Foundation to pay one million dollars in cash to any person able to prove paranormal claims (like telepathy or telekinesis) under controlled operating conditions. Not a single person has yet made it passed even the preliminary stage of testing.

Personally, I think it's an interesting challenge that places a lot of doubt on the majority of people claiming to have paranormal powers or abilities. It's also interesting that an absolutely astounding majority of high profile television psychics (like Sylvia Brown or John Edward) avoid the challenge like the plague. It shows that these people are willing to fool millions into believing their gimmicks, but the instant someone offers to put them under controlled conditions supervised by a master of trickery, their abilities suddenly aren't so great.

I had no idea this thread was even on here! Well, yeah, I heard of the Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge countless times (in fact, we had a huge discussion on it in one of my Psych classes which was totally about skepticism in the sciences). I think it's a great method to weed out the poseurs from the real guys (lol, I believe in the paranormal >_>). Then again, how come the "pros" aren't showing up to take part in the challenge? A cool mil is pretty good...